2014 Mount Veeder Reserve Red Blend Napa Valley

Dark garnet in color with aromas of intricately woven, dense black currant, black peppercorn, and cardamom. Notes of molasses and flint lend a very deep and complex aroma. Hints of bay leaf and honey linger in the glass. A bursting palate, with a big mouthfeel and structure, stuffed with dark cherry and plum. Hazelnut and anise, with hints of sage, all add to the richness and layered complexity of this wine. Big in stature, yet supple. A powerfully flavorful wine with grace and restraint, it finishes long with black currant and savory notes.
89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Malbec, 4% Petit Verdot

Vineyard Notes

2014 was another year of low rainfall and warm temperatures in Napa Valley, which once again resulted in an early harvest with excellent flavor intensity and beautiful ripeness in the fruit. The winter started off very dry with no rain from December through February. In late March and early April, we received a good dose of rain that started the vines growing with ample water in the root zone. Throughout most of the growing season, conditions were textbook normal for fruit set and ripening, which gave us an abundance of high-quality grapes. Harvest of our hillside fruit on Mount Veeder began with Malbec on September 9. We began picking Cabernet Sauvignon off of our Rosenquist Ranch on September 12, with the last grapes off of the North Ranch coming in on October 9.

Winemaker Notes

Our Mount Veeder vines speak a language all their own. The elevation, a lofty 1,500–1,600 feet above sea level, creates unique and rugged growing conditions that encourage vines to struggle, producing a low yield of high-quality fruit. Becoming fluent in that language, fully understanding all of its subtleties and nuances, is the trick to making great wine from high-altitude mountain vineyards. Over the years, we have come to know the contours, dips, and ridges of the mountain—and the sequence of ripening that is the key to it all. A Mount Veeder harvest is a Zen-like art of moving across a three-dimensional chessboard. Take the uphill side of the vine only, or the downhill side, or just the north, south, east, or west section. We pick only what’s ready and at peak flavor and ripeness. It’s a complex endeavor and needs to be carved with precision, matching areas of the block that are at the same level of ripeness and leaving other areas to mature another week or more.

93 Points

Bold purple color. On the nose: black currant, saucy plums, smoky charcoal, black pepper, violets and vanilla. The palate is full and supported by a deck of solid tannins, although some moderate acidity and juicy fruit help balance it all out. Black currant, tangy blackberries, roasted fig paste, the fruit melds with charcoal, vanilla, cedar shavings, cocoa powder, and dark roast coffee grounds. Complex, long, mineral and earth finish – those mountain vineyard qualities really show through in this wine. Delicious but this will really improve over the next four to five years easily, and hold for quite some time. Cabernet with 7% Malbec and 4% Petit Verdot, aged 20 months in all new French oak. This is a reliably excellent wine, vintage in and out, but the 2014 is gorgeous.

Isaac James Baker - Reading, Writing & Wine, September 28, 2017

91 Points

Made from 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Malbec and 4% Petit Verdot and aged in 100% new oak for 20 months, this is a burly red wine wiht impressive structure and presence. Tangly red fruit, recalling cranberry and currant, is spiced with clove, mountain sage, bay leaf and molasses notes.

Virginie Boone - Wine Enthusiast, December 2017

90 Points

An attractive wine from Mount Veeder Winery, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is a blend of 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Malbec, and 4% Petit Verdot and displays attractive blueberry and blackberry fruit, some licorice, spice box and incense. It is medium to full-bodied and pure, with moderate tannin. It should benefit from another 2-3 years of bottle age and drink well for 12-15 years.